In 1875, the United States Congress passed an act, March 3, 1875, to reduce the Coast Reservation. This act, terminated the Alsea Reservation, that section on the south, and opened that section to white settlement. The previous act in 1865 (President Andrew Johnson signing the Executive Order of December 21, 1865) had eliminated a section … More The Significance of Salmon River Encampment in 1875
A truly remarkable fact of Oregon history presented itself while conducting some coastal research. In 1856 and for years after, the Indian agents employed and contracted with enterprising individuals to seek out and capture Indians still remaining in the lands or escaped from the reservations, and return them. The image recalled when hearing about this … More Indian Catchers of Coastal Oregon 1850s
When the tribes got to the reservation in 1856, the federal Indian agents were then 100% responsible for feeding them and caring for their health needs. I have documented in numerous essays that the federal government was slow to appropriate funds for the reservation, even when they had treaties, and that hunger and starvation was … More Medicinal Plants of the Rogue Rivers at Grand Ronde, 1858
One of the shortest lived reservations was the White Salmon Reservation, on the north bank of the Columbia River across from Hood River. The Reservation was established to hold the Columbia River Indians, with villages on the north bank of the Columbia River, for a temporary time until they were remove permanently to Yakima. The … More Early History of the White Salmon Reservation